


Love Is Brighter In The Dark

by itsabandthing



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: 5 Seconds of Summer Girlfriend, 5 seconds of summer au, Calum Hood Girlfriend, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Love, Romance, publicity stunt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:21:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26744302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsabandthing/pseuds/itsabandthing
Summary: Kinley Anders may not be as clueless as the other celebrities that she knows, but when Modest! Management cooks up a scheme that paints herself and fellow popstar --and not to mention childhood best friend-- Calum Hood as lovers, she knows it won't be easy to pull off the publicity stunt. Somehow, she has to convince the rest of the world that the two are terribly in love, and it's a lot easier said than done; Especially when she starts to fall for the act herself.
Relationships: Calum Hood/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	Love Is Brighter In The Dark

They'd finished their Sounds Live Feels Live Tour on a Wednesday night in Sydney, and Calum had never been as tired nor as high on adrenaline in his life. Looking back on it now, almost two years later, Calum can still hear the screaming fans, still feel the pressure of Michael's hands squeezing his shoulder, still smell the sweat that clung to their bodies like a second skin, still feel the energy in the air. They'd stood there on stage, having just performed She Looks So Perfect, arms around each other, grins matching, and it had felt like they could literally do anything in the world.

  
Truth is, back then, they could have. They'd had success for breakfast, fame for lunch, and idolization for dinner. They'd been the world's biggest band, they were loved and coveted, and dang it, they were good.

  
And they were tired.

  
They were worn out, worked to the bone, and they needed a break. A hiatus, Ashton kept calling it, feeling the need to remind everybody that it wasn't the end; That it wasn't permanent. They'd sat down in Luke's hotel room on a Monday during the North American leg of the tour, and it had been Michael who'd brought it up first.

  
"One Direction took 2016 off," He'd said. "They used the time to write a new album, right? But also, you know, to get some peace and quiet..."

  
And they all knew what he was getting at. Crystal and Michael had been engaged since February 2016, but between recording the album and the world tour, they saw each other so rarely that they hardly had time to be engaged, much less plan a wedding. They understood how much of a temptation it must be for Michael, knowing that Crystal was back in L.A. Knowing that they could finally be an actual couple, waking up next to each other every day, doing the weekly shop together, and finally, finally getting married.

  
None of them had known how to respond, and the next few moments were filled with silence.

  
"It would be nice, wouldn't it?" Luke said eventually. "Just for a little while. Just to slow down a bit, yeah?"

  
And the thing is, it did sound nice. Nice and fantastic 0and unbelievable... And also effing terrifying.

  
"It's just be a hiatus, right?" Ashton said. "Like, we'll take some time off, write some songs, appreciate the quiet life, and then we'll be back, yeah? Together again? New album, new tour?"

  
"Course, mate!" Michael smiled. "Like you could get rid of us that easily. We'll still be 5 Seconds of Summer when we're old and senile."

  
Three pairs of eyes shifted to Calum, who had remained silent throughout it all. He sighed quietly, ran a hand through his unstyled hair and nodded. "I think a break is exactly what we need."

  
"A hiatus." Ashton corrected and Calum smiled.

  
"A hiatus." Luke repeated, nodding, and that had sealed it.

  
Management had been harder to convince. They were certain that even if the boys did return from their hiatus, the fan base would be long gone, but they were steadfast in their decision. In the end they compromised. The boys would release a Greatest Hits album in time for Christmas and then the hiatus would be announced. They'd agreed on giving themselves two years. It seemed such a long time, but they'd been going a hundred miles an hour for five years and they needed it. They were to use the last six months of their hiatus to record a new album, so that it would be ready when they returned.

  
And that was where they were now. Two years later and ready to take on the world again.

  
It had been two strange years for all of them. Equal parts fantastic and horrible. It was nice to be able to live in the same place for an extended period of time, nice to be able to see their families more often, nice for those with significant others to be able to spend every day with them.

  
Michael and Crystal had gotten married eight months into the hiatus, a lovely quiet affair, and Calum doesn't think he had ever seen Michael that happy before. If nothing else, the hiatus was worth it just to see that.

  
But it had been tough, as well, tougher than Calum had expected. It was quite natural that the hiatus meant seeing less of the boys, but it was something else entirely when it actually happened.

  
Ashton went back to L.A. for a time, and ended up doing a bit of writing with various artists. They all wrote a lot during the hiatus, really. It wasn't long before Ashton rekindled the flame with Bryana, and a year into the hiatus, they went public with their relationship. It was the first time Ashton had ever been officially taken since joining 5 Seconds of Summer, but people had been extraordinarily supportive of it. Then again, it could easily just be because people didn't care anymore. It was so hard to distinguish between the two these days.

  
Luke had spent the first seven months in Sydney, but after a bad breakup with Arzaylea, he'd packed his bags and moved to L.A, too. He spent a lot of time with All Time Low there, and had co-written quite a few songs on All Time Low's newest album. About a year into the break, Luke had joined them on their European tour, traveling with them for two months, and they'd surprised fans with a collaboration between the five of them. A bonus track on All Time Low's upcoming album. That had spurred quite a large number of "Luke Hemmings Quite 5 Seconds of Summer, Heartthrob Ready To Go Solo"- rumors, none of which held any truth, Luke was quick to reassure the boys.

  
_Wouldn't ditch you for a solo career even if it was the last thing on earth to do. Six months until it's proper back to work, mates! Miss you xx_

  
In truth, they'd all been surrounded by break-up rumors and solo-rumors ever since they announced their hiatus. Few believed that they would actually ever return as a band. One Direction had yet to, as well. All the English-Irish lads had been making their own name for themselves, and no plan had really been made to come back as a band. Fans worried that 5 Seconds of Summer would be the same.

  
As for Calum, he'd spent the first few months on his sofa, to be honest. It was the strangest thing, finally being completely free. When they'd broken up their actual relationship, and subsequently entered their publicity relationship, he and Nia had signed a two year contract, and when it was finally coming to its close in January 2016, Modest! had called them in for renegotiation. Neither of them had wanted to renew, sick and tired of the lies and the hassle, and somewhere along the way they'd gone from a friendship to mild dislike. They were sick of each other, plain and simple. They had somehow been talked into signing a six month contract though, in order for the PR to set up a believable break-up, and Calum had finally been officially single in June 2016.

  
So, when the tour was done, not only did he not have to worry about his obligations to 5 Seconds of Summer, he also didn't have to keep up appearances when it came to his supposed relationship with Nia. So, he's spent the first little while on his sofa playing shitty FIFA games and eating the kind of food Ashton would have scolded him for.  
He felt restless quickly, though, and took to writing a lot, penning plenty of potential songs for their upcoming album, even selling some to other artists. He grew frustrated, however, with his lack of musical talent, and decided one day to take up piano again, intent this time on learning it one hundred percent. He'd hired a private teacher, and it had taken a lot of effort and time, but eventually he mastered piano to nearly the same degree as his bass.

  
Besides occupying himself with the piano, he'd volunteered for a position as a footie coach for a team of young boys in Sydney, leaving him at home every Thursday for training and supper at his Mum's. It was nice, the feeling that he'd come closer to his family during the break. Ever since he'd broken up with Nia, and no longer felt the pressure of lying and pretending when he was home.

  
The boys had seen each other a lot less than they'd liked, but they'd never lost contact. They were constantly keeping each other in the loop, from texting to calling to silly snapchats of what they were doing. And they met up, of course, albeit not as much as they wished they could, what with all their individual projects.

  
All in all, though, they were all happy when it came to the time to meet up and start working on their new album.

~~|*|~~

He'd gotten the phone call on a Tuesday morning.

  
"Good morning, Mr. Hood," A vaguely familiar voice had said when Calum had picked up his phone with the usual hello. "This is Amanda Carter, Mr. Griffiths' personal assistant. We'd like for you to come to a meeting Saturday morning, if you are free?"

  
Calum had frowned in confusion, but agreed nonetheless —even though it meant making an unplanned trip to London. "Right, um, yeah, sure. I'm free."  
"Splendid. Nine o'clock in conference room 2, please. We'll see you then, Mr. Hood."

  
That Saturday morning —for all intents and purposes a Saturday like all the rest— Calum would never have believed that in less than a month he'd be holding Kinley's hand, his best friend's hand, for all the world to see, hundreds of camera-flashes going off, blinding them. Kinley's hand in his the only thing grounding him to the present.  


And so, it had begun.


End file.
